The Brion McClanahan Author & Historian Blog

The Federalist Papers are the most overrated series of essays in American history. That’s not a hot take. It’s a fact. They hold more weight because of the stature of the authors: Hamilton, Madison, and Jay. But that doesn’t make them any more important or useful than other commentaries on the Constitution written at the same time. In fact, they persuaded very few people and …more

The good news? Progressives admit we’ve won. The bad news? Progressives have changed the game, the field, and the rules. What do I mean by this? You see, progressives have decided that our side was correct about the founding, the Constitution, federalism, secession, the nature of the Union. All of it. But it doesn’t matter. Originalism–real originalism–is dead, and has been replaced by “14th Amendment …more

Ain’t no better time for throwing the bums out than right now. Unfortunately, it seems Americans have been saying that since 1783. That was the point of the Republican Revolution of 1800 and every subsequent attempt to check the power of the general government. Throw ’em out and things will be better. But what if that doesn’t work? I know that’s a rhetorical question. It …more

The latest Trump indictment led to another round of conservatives describing the United States as a “third world country” and a “banana republic.” At the same time, Al Sharpton questioned whether Republicans wanted “George III or the confederacy” for their continued support of Trump. American politics are historically stupid. The Untied States isn’t in danger of becoming a “banana republic.” The analogy doesn’t work. Nor …more

The new Florida K-12 history standards have upset the left. Kamala Harris recently suggested that teachers in Florida would be required to tell students that slavery benefited black Americans. Various historians immediately whined to the establishment media that this was an effort to “revise” the past, to minimize the institution of slavery, and, hilariously, to support white guilt. That last point illustrates how stupid these …more

In 2009, I wrote my Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers as a way to bring attention to what I called the “greatest generation” of Americans. This doesn’t mean that Americans had forgotten the founding generation. Hardly. They were being discussed all the time. But I did have the sense that it was getting harder to talk about their accomplishments without bowing your head …more

I’ve talked about this issue many times on my Podcast. Americans are angry, so much so that we are seeing rhetorical conflict unmatched since the 1850s. At least we could define “woman.” Regardless, all of the hand wringing and angst over the current polarization of American politics misses one key ingredient: centralization of power. The culture war would not be an issue if we had …more

Did Jefferson Davis reply to the Emancipation Proclamation with a threat to enslave all blacks in America? That is what some historically challenged people on social media think. Their evidence is a broadside reportedly published in January 1863 by the Richmond Enquirer as “An Address to the People of the Free States by the President of the Southern Confederacy.” In other words, Jefferson Davis went …more

This isn’t a popular opinion, but the Supreme Court made a grave mistake in the recent decision striking down affirmative action at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. I told a colleague the Court was just trimming around the edges. He disagreed. Let me explain. The Court used 14th Amendment incorporation to invalidate affirmative action admissions policies for Harvard and UNC. While many conservatives …more